Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Wardrobe Review

This has been on my wishlist for a while now, but I was worried at such a hefty price tag that this product would be all hype. Well let me tell you now, the hype is real!

Subtle is the name of the game when it comes to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting wardrobe. Dim light is a smidge too dark for my pale skintone, but with a light hand I can get away with it. I use my usual Clarins matte powder on a small brush over concealed blemishes and then apply dim light over my entire face. At first glance you're not sure its had any effect at all, yet when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the light you can see the most gorgeous glow to your skin. This somehow imparts a perfection to your skin that was definitely not there before. Incandescent light is a lovely natural highlight, not super obvious so you can wear it in the daytime without feeling too dolled up. Radiant light is a smidge dark again but being quite sheer can be applied gently for a lovely natural glow.

The powders, like the ambient blush, are very finely milled and buttery, but also quite delicate so your brush does kick up a lot of product when you use it. I find that these have great longevity on my skin, and does last all day. I don't know that I can ever justify repurchasing, but I definitely will continue to use and enjoy this palette

I have had this palette over 6 months and only now do I feel confident in writing my thoughts on it. I have dry skin and was sick of my makeup constantly looking tired and dull so one day I went in to Mecca and had the assistant dust the powders all over my face so I could see how they wore. I honestly couldn't stop looking at my skin the entire day, it made my skin look airbrushed and glowy all day long (in a non-oily way).

Needless to say I went back the next day and purchased it. Initially I was only using Dim Light over the centre of my face and for the life of me could not recreate the effect on my skin that the assistant had created. This resulted in me putting it aside and doubting my purchase. However, I picked it up again a couple of months ago after researching how others use it, and I just adore it now. I use all 3 powders daily as follows:

Dim Light: I dust this over the centre of my face to blur the size of my pores and imperfections, and just give the skin a healthy glow. It really is great at pore blurring!

Incandescent Light: I use this on all the standard high points of my face for a gorgeous non-glittery highlight. I also love it as a brow bone and inner corner highlight as it lasts alll day!

Radiant Light: I love the effect of this dusted over my bronzer at the back of my cheekbones and on my forehead. It really does give your face a gorgeous radiant glow. I also dust this down the bridge of my nose for a healthy, sun kissed flush of colour.

The packaging is elegant, feels sturdy and is perfect for travel as it contains a good sized mirror. I do note that the Hourglass label etc is starting to wear off, but that just shows how much I use it! Do I think it's worth it? If you have dry/normal skin, absolutely! It just makes your skin look airbrushed. Not entirely sure how useful it would be if you have oily skin though.

It's a love hate relationship. I hummed and haa'd over this in the shop, many times, before buying.

I find the dark shade is a little too dark and too bronzey for me maybe? I think my main problem is finding the right brush to use with it, not too big, not too small, just the right amount of fluffiness.

I have to say I was hoping for more 'blurring of imperfection' action but alas I don't see anything blurred. It does add a nice glow to my face and the light shade provides subtle highlights. I like that it is not glittery like a lot of highlighters are.

I like the packaging and I'm happy that I bought it. I'm not sure I really needed it, but honestly I'm happy just to look at it even if I'm not using it- it is beautiful and luxurious looking, and the three different powders all have a deep glow. It's like when you see someone beautiful and you just can't stop staring!

I love the middle powder to use as a highlight. Its not too powdery and it is such a nice glow without being too over the top. The powder on the right is a perfect bronzer for my skin and doesn't require much blending. I personally dont use the powder on the left because it leaves my skin looking quite yellow.

This is one of my favorite products and palettes in my makeup collection. It's one of my most reached for palettes and I use it when I'm in a hurry to get out the door because it's so easy to apply and get a beautiful, glow and that blurs pores, doesn't look cakey or settle into fine lines. Plus the powder in the middle, Incandescent Light can be used a very subtle glow highlight and the powder on left Radiant Light gives a subtle all over bronzed glow that can be used as bronzer. The from the first time I tried this out in store it was love. The powders feel really light on the skin and the look I get from applying this is almost airbrushed. I honest was skeptical because my very pale skin friend used this and because the powders look very light and swatch very light and her face looked very subtly contoured, I wasn't sure I would get the same results using this on my NC25 skin. But I did, I got the same results and that subtle contour, glowy skin and it blurred my pores, didn't settle into or emphasize my fine lines. And I got that without and any need to really blend it in it which is why I reach for this when I'm in hurry because I don't need to be too precise with my application or worry about how much my brush picks up since it all blends so effortless and easily you can't really tell where my highlight starts and my bronzer begins. It's unlikely you can over apply this by accident another reason I use this to finish off my base when I'm in a hurry. This isn't a cheap palette but I use it so much almost $100 at the time of this review but the powder is so finely milled the compact is well made and sturdy so I feel like I'm definitely getting a quality product for my hard saved cash. Even though the pans only have 3.3g of powder I have gotten a lot of use out of it and when I hit pan eventually I will be investing in another one to replace it. I think this would be a fantastic staple in anyone's makeup collection.

Honestly, i purchased this only because of the hype surrounding it. I took it home and had nooo idea how to use it, but that's how I found out it's so versatile!! I use the end shades to set my face all over if I'm using a matte foundation for a beautiful glowy look. The middle shade is beautiful for highlighting, I do find it a bit glittery but if it's worked into the skin it has a beautiful finish. It's definitely worth the purchase if you love an all over natural glow.

I have struggled with my review for this product slightly because my feelings on this product have been a bit of a toss up.

I was keen to try this because of the hype and I was struggling to find highlighter and bronzer shades I liked. But it is expensive.

Finally I got one and couldn't wait to try it. I eagerly contoured my face and it felt a bit lackluster. I was expecting something more.

However the powders felt beautiful and the shades while not packing the punch I expected did seem to flatter my skin more than several brands I tried. So I kept at it and eventually found ways that worked best for me. And perhaps had also learned by this point that less could be more.

One trick I learned that I really like is mixing them together, this can create a whole new shade and can also be used as a face powder with a bit of glow.

What I love most about this product is how finely milled it is. None of my cheaper highlighter can compete with that. And it does last, which given the price is a relief. It's also in a nice compact, which I am a fan of.

All in all, I think I let the hype initially make me expect too much from this product. But it is quality.

I couldn't tell you how many reviews I read on this, how many times I looked at it online or how many times I looked at it in store until one day I FINALLY bit the bullet and bought it and I haven't had a single regret since! I absolutely adore this and think it was well worth the money. I have used the bronzer shade more than any of the others but still do adore the other two. They all offer a beautiful glow, like a glow from within rather than a shine, it's just gorgeous! The Incandescent Light is just beautiful and can be used in so many different ways, it's stunning as an inner corner highlight as well she a normal highlight, but my favorite way of using it is to mix it with my blush (on the same brush), it gives off such a stunning glow!